Media Advisory: News wrap up for September 22

Media Advisory: News wrap up for September 22

A new poll out today from Siena College shows the Green Party’s New York gubernatorial candidate Howie Hawkins running strong on his home turf. The survey of 598 likely voters in the Empire State’s 24th congressional district shows Governor Andrew Cuomo leading Republican challenger Rob Astorino by 44% to 32%, with Hawkins drawing the support of 15% of voters. In the city of Syracuse, where Hawkins has made numerous bids for local office over the years, the Green candidate collects an impressive 24% of the vote. Hawkins received more than 5% of the vote in Onondaga County during his 2010 run for governor, his best showing in that race.

The Green Party's Howie Hawkins might be lagging in the race for New York state governor, but in Syracuse he's getting much higher poll numbers than the rest of the state. According to a recently released Syracuse.com, Post-Standard, Siena College Research Institute poll, Hawkins is supported by nearly one out of every four voters in the city of Syracuse.

With no major-party candidate backing a fracking ban, Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins is hoping to pick up some support. Teachout had called for an outright fracking ban, and Hawkins is hoping his message appeals to those who backed the upstart Democrat. In a letter to supporters this week, Hawkins said his support for a ban is nothing new. "I called for a ban on fracking for natural gas as the Green gubernatorial candidate in 2010 at a time when most environmentalists urged a moratorium so that the health and environmental impacts of fracking could be studied," Hawkins wrote.

Levy says voter turnout in the city of Syracuse is key for Maffei, but a lopsided lead for Andrew Cuomo in the big race on the ballot, for governor, could keep Democratic voters home. However, Levy says there is one wildcard on that front: the Green Party gubernatorial candidacy of Syracuse’s Howie Hawkins. “Howie Hawkins is pulling 24 percent in Syracuse. So there’s clearly a possibility that as opposed to maybe an Obama enthusiasm in the past, a Hawkins enthusiasm, most especially in Sryacuse may bring out a certain degree of vote that could in fact benefit Dan Maffei,” said Levy.

Hundreds of protesters marched through Manhattan's financial district Monday, determined to disrupt what they call "business as usual" in the corporate world. "Fossil fuels is burning up the planet. So that's why we're here," said the Green Party's Howie Hawkins.

Marching behind Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein's Global Climate Convergence contingent and in front of the ecosocialists of System Change Not Climate Change, the New York state Green Party drew in supporters from across the state for a contingent of nearly 150. Marching among them were Green candidates for governor and lieutenant governor of New York Howie Hawkins and Brian Jones. Their campaign is connecting to the desire for an electoral alternative to the status quo--in order to fight around ecological questions, among many other issues. Mary Jo Long, who marched with the contingent, stated, "It's great to see a lot of younger people--as someone from the older generation." She explained that she was particularly concerned with opposing fracking for natural gas in New York state. Lucille, a woman from Fort Greene in Brooklyn who also marched with the New York Greens, said she felt "a strong sense of pride" being on the march. "For the longest time," she said, "the Green Party hasn't been taken seriously--but now with the Hawkins/Jones campaign there's a strong sense that we can make progress as long as we are loud enough."